“You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and the land can have no expiation for blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it” (Bamidbar 35:33). The Torah’s approach towards killing another person is very complex. On the one hand, it champions a fierce battle against murder. This is already addressed in the first story of our reality as humans – after Adam is exiled from the Garden of Eden – and the account of Kayin and Hevel teaches us the great severity of this act; the prohibition of murder is not only applicable to those who have a covenant with God. It appears in Parshat Noach, “Whoever sheds human blood, by human [hands] shall that one’s blood be shed; for in the image of God was humankind made” (Bereishit 9:6), long before the Jewish nation was created. The rationale for the prohibition of murder even states that all of humanity was created in the image of God, and therefore there must be a prohibition to harm them. It is unnecessary to note that “do not murder” appears as a categorical prohibition in the Torah and does not differentiate between groups of people. It is prohibited to murder any human. There are other passages that teach this unique approach, and in our parsha we learn that it is prohibited to pollute the Holy Land with spilled blood.
On the other hand, we see many laws in the Torah specifically relating to spilling blood: the mitzvah to go to war, capital punishment, one who intrudes on private property (ba bemachteret), the halachot of a murderous pursuer (din rodef), and more. Our approach is thus very complex, and like many other topics relating to man’s moral behavior – the approach to spilling blood is very dependent on context and the junction with other values and a variety of mitzvot. However, our penultimate starting point is seeing killing others as a very severe crime.
We specifically, who believe in the holiness of the land and its being a place God chose to dwell, are called upon to fight against murder. In our parsha it is stated that the land itself is affected when murders occur, exactly as it is written in Parshat Achrei Mot regarding forbidden sexual relationships. The holiness of the land obligates us to be very stringent regarding this: avoiding workplace accidents, driving cautiously, being careful about where one swims in the sea, etc.
All the more so when dealing with intentional spilling of blood. At times, we hear about murders between criminals, and we shy away from seeing it as something that relates to us. Some are even glad that they are killing each other. At times we become apathetic towards familial murders, and even have the gall to describe them as being committed “for romantic reasons”. When murders happen in the Arab sector – there are those who are glad that this proves their culture is abhorrent and violent. All of these are great mistakes. From a moral perspective, it is prohibited for us to consent to a culture of murder and manslaughter. From a practical perspective, murder in one context bleeds and seeps into others, and anyone who believes that these matters will be limited to a specific nation or context – is wrong. Finally, it is a mistake for our fight for the sanctity of the Land of Israel and its existence as a land of life and holiness.
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